Another exciting round of Bob Fulton Cup action, and another sixteen teams go home wondering what could have been. The round of thirty two was highlighted by some shock eliminations, including two sides heavily favoured for the Premier League crown in 2005.
The Central Coast Falcons have crashed to a humiliating 28-10 loss at the hands of the Cairns White Pointers, one of the last Rising Star Conference sides in contention. The Falcons looked directionless without captain Paul Sculthorpe, and were absolutely dominated in a one sided second half.
Cairns: Brooke Martin 2, Rowan Baxter, Steve Simmons, and Willie Tupou. Martin 4/6
Central Coast: Matt Utai and Braith Anasta. El Masri 1/4
PoM Points: Steve Simmons 3, Brooke Martin 2, and Balin Cupples 1.
The Northern Territory derby has lived up to the hype, creating the match of the round as Central edged out the Cyclones 26-22 in a thrilling clash played in intense Darwin heat. The Phoenix stormed back home after trailing early, scoring two tries in the final ten minutes to cement themselves as a genuine contender.
Darwin: Marius Joubert, Michael Monaghan, and Tana Umaga. Bowen 5/5
Central: Hunter Tylerson, Ned Catic 2, and Robert Salvatori. Maquina 5/6
PoM Points: Andre Bowen 3, Michael Monaghan 2, and Tana Umaga 1.
Gold Coast have given Wagga a warm welcome to the big league, showing rookie coach Theo Kamis no mercy as they rampaged over his chargers to an impressive 26-12. The only bad news for the reigning minor premiers is an injury to new recruit Ben Kennedy, who is expected to miss up to six weeks with a torn ligament.
Gold Coast: Clint Newton, Tommy O'Reilly, Steve Simpson, Steve Southern, and Gordon D'Arcy. Sinfield 3/5
Wagga: Rupert Matakamikamica and Justin Marshall. Magro 2/2
PoM Points: Tommy O'Reilly 3, Ben Kennedy 2, and Matt Orford 1.
The Tonga Reef Sharks have toughed out a gritty 26-20 win over Johannesburg today in South Africa, keeping the island nation's dreams of an ASRL berth alive on the back of doubles from Damien Flint and Brendan Williams.
Johannesburg: Simon Grix, Mick Moran, and Todd Payten. Wilson 4/6
Tonga: Brendan Williams 2, John Waka, and Damien Flint 2. Niu 2/5. Singh 1/1
PoM Points: Damien Flint 3, Brendan Williams 2, and Paul Prescott 1.
It was a baptism of fire for the newly relocated Auckland Pirates in today's clash against the unpredictable Liverpool Rockets - who made their intentions clear with a booming 42-8 thumping of the latest addition to the New Zealand league family.
Liverpool: Tai Lavea, Gus McCrae, Paul March, Steve Molloy 2, Jamie Bloom, Daniel Bell, and Joel Caine. March 5/8
Auckland: Grahem Bond. Spencer 2/2
PoM Points: Adam Hughes 3, Gus McCrae 2, and Dom Feaunati 1.
The Northern Cannons have breezed through their clash against Hawthorn today, doing it comfortably with a 32-16 victory over the RSC minnows. The Cannons were woeful in the first half, and trailed 10-6, but came storming back to secure a berth in the round of sixteen.
Northern: Trent Pariah 2, Michael DeVere, David Lyons 2, and Jason Hooper. Pariah 4/6
Hawthorn: Scott Boston and Brett Delaney. Akiba 4/4
PoM Points: Trent Pariah 3, Michael DeVere 2, and David Lyons 1.
Rookie sensation Greg Inglis has had a major part in Surfers Paradise's 24-14 victory over South Newcastle tonight, the livewire young fullback sparking the Punks after they were shockingly behind 8-0 at halftime. The South Newcastle Cavaliers were valiant in defeat, but ultimately found themselves outgunned by a star-studded Punks' outfit.
South Newcastle: Steve Renouf and Derek Fletcher. Tuni 3/4
Surfers Paradise: Rhys Wesser, Greg Inglis, Frank Miranda, and Steve Bell. Deacon 4/5
PoM Points: Greg Inglis 3, Rhys Wesser 2, and Mark O'Neill 1.
Suva's miraculous charge through the Bob Fulton Cup continued in fine fashion today, the Surge scoring an upset 18-14 victory over Lake Heights to continue their dream for an ASRL franchise.
Suva: Colum Halpenny and Yaccine Dekkiche 2. Lucas 3/4
Lake Heights: Dan Hunt, Motu Tony, and Jeff Grubens. Tony 1/3
PoM Points: Dan Hunt 3, Iafeta Peleaeasina 2, and Sione Faumunia 1.
Perth and Sydney have played out an entertaining clash at Subiaco today, with the Taipans continuing their trend of being Sydney's 'hoodoo team' with a 20-14 victory over the Oilers. It was a world class battle of the forwards, with the Taipans' dark horse pack dominating the ruck throughout.
Perth: Lesley Vainikolo, Aaron Payne, Ardent Rivers, and Anton Roarke. Wilkinson 2/5
Sydney: Andrew Ryan and Darren Bennet. Bennet 3/5
PoM Points: Trent Waterhouse 3, Sonny-Bill Williams 2, and Aaron Payne 1.
Christian Cullen has inspired the Eastwood Pumas to an upset 16-14 victory over the powerhouse Brisbane Bulls outfit, a double from the former Kiwi fullback lifting the Pumas to an unlikely victory over a side favoured to go the distance.
Eastwood: Christian Cullen 2. March 4/4
Brisbane: Josh Hannay and Carl Webb. Hannay 3/3
PoM Points: Christian Cullen 3, Owen Finegan 2, and Cameron Smith 1.
Tamworth City's form is ominous going in to the decisive stages of the Bob Fulton Cup, the Titans scoring a round high 44-8 victory over the Waikato Breakers to breeze through into the next round of competition. Veteran centre Matthew Gidley played a superb game, but it was Eron Bates who stole the show as he dominated the play.
Tamworth City: Roy Bell, Anthony Farrah, Joseph Goldstein, Luke Robinson, Luke Ricketson 2, and Matthew Gidley 2. Bates 6/8
Waikato: Imanol Harinordoquy. Humphrys 2/2
PoM Points: Eron Bates 3, Matthew Gidley 2, and Luke Ricketson 1.
Geelong fans are crying foul after today's heart-breaking 22-20 loss to the Wollongong Destructors, with a no try ruling right on full time ending what had been an entertaining Geelong comeback. In a surprise contender for game of the round, the two sides exchanged big leads - but it was ultimately Wollongong's class that shone through.
Wollongong: Jaime Soward, Danny Ward, and Luke Covell. Patrick 4/4. Hodgson 1/1
Geelong: Gary Hall 2, Travis Norton, and Bryan Cook. Hall 2/5
PoM Points: Gary Hall 3, Travis Norton 2, and Luke Covell 1.
North Queensland have escaped with a win in their clash against the Wests Panthers, a 79th minute try to Frenchman Jean-Emmanuel Cassin preventing what would have been an embarassing loss to a far weaker Queensland club. The final score of 26-24 decided by a late Kirchner conversion.
Wests: Michael Bond, Adam Mogg 2, and Trent Young. Barnes 4/5
North Queensland: Jean-Emmanuel Cassin, Holger Mannhardt, Brett Finch, and Lee Hopkins. Kirchner 5/5
PoM Points: Gavin Cooper 3, Ben Kirchner 2, and Jean-Emmanuel Cassin 1.
The return of former Colombo coach Chris Columbo to the coaching game has seen him jump immediately into the winner's circle, coaching Hornsby to a 24-12 victory over Port Macquarie to keep the Premier League minnows alive for another week.
Hornsby: Matthew Rieck, Brent Grose, Tevita Vaikona, and Vladimir Vlostov. Van Der Westhuyzen 2/4. Roff 2/2
Port Macquarie: Shad Bailey and Lee Briers. Fields 2/2
PoM Points: Brad Commins 3, Vladimir Vlostov 2, and Matthew Rieck 1.
In a game that went into extra time, Ryde have won the all RSC battle with Birchgrove 26-14, scoring two tries in the extra time period to end the Birchgrove Pistoleers' time in the Bob Fulton Cup. Ashley Alberts was instrumental in the victory, scoring three tries including the first extra time try.
Ryde: Ashley Alberts 3 and Maxim Ramonov 2. Smith 3/6
Birchgrove: Justin Ryder and Jesse Royal. Dorn 2/2. Holdsworth 2 fg.
PoM Points: Ashley Alberts 3, Jesse Royal 2, and Maxim Ramonov 1.
The clash between Parramatta and Christchurch has shattered an ASRL record set in 2002 by Gold Coast and North Sydney, who played out a two hour epic to decide a grand final berth. The Vikings and Avalanches have gone forty minutes further than that, playing for one hundred and sixty minutes before a winner could be decided. And when it did come, it was decisive, the Avalanches scoring four tries in the final twenty minutes of play to chalk up a 34-12 victory.
Parramatta: Evarn Tuimavave. Fitzgibbon 4/5
Christchurch: Brett Kimmorley, Stacey Katu, Jamaal Lolesi, Neale Wyatt, Doug Rumble, and Soni Ardi. Rumble 6/7
PoM Points: Ruben Wiki 3, Evarn Tuimavave 2, and Brett Kimmorley.
:o :drunk: :kicking: :raygun: :poke:
will say more later, need to go to work now :)
Sport's Tonight
In what will go down as one of the greatest quotes in ASRL history Christchurch Coach Matt Lyons had a fairly unorthodox satatement to say after his team won against Parramatta.
"Holy crap I can't fucken believe it we won. Those four tries in the last few minutes were absolutley incredible, weren't they. Man after that match going for 160 Minutes I think me and the deserve a nice Jim Beam after that effort, Ruben and Noddy who both played extremly well will get their drinks payed by me"
Well done Eastwood and Ryde :kicking:
Holy crap, only 5 premier league teams left! Gold Coast, Woolongong, Perth, Surfers and Hornsby, im a sort of chance now, but i have only just scraped past iv opposition in both games so who knows, ill prob get smashed in round 3 lol.
| QUOTE (eastspumas @ Jul 30 2005, 01:55 PM) |
| Well done Eastwood and Ryde :kicking: |
ryde is going down. bad luck, revenge for gisborne from last season.
wtf i got beat by suva...:(
